Thomson Reuters Foundation: How to stop open defecation? Even if you build a toilet, they may not come “Bangladesh and India have long tried to stop people from defecating in outdoor public places — a practice that spreads fatal diseases — but Bangladesh has had much more success than the…

Agence France-Presse: 2.8 bln risk ill health from home air pollution “Nearly three billion people risk ill health and early death merely from breathing the air in their homes that is polluted by fires made for cooking and heating, researchers said…”(9/3).

Inter Press Service: Afghan ‘Torn’ Women Get Another Chance “…Alongside the health center in Badakhshan — 290 km northeast of Kabul — Malalai Maternity Hospital is the only health center in Afghanistan with a section devoted to coping with a disease [obstetric fistula] that is seemingly endemic to the most…

Agence France-Presse: Dengue outbreak affects at least 22 in Japan “An outbreak of dengue fever in Japan — the first since World War II — has affected at least 22 people, the government said Monday, with all cases believed to be linked to a Tokyo park…” (9/1).

The Guardian discusses the issue of sanitation and its relevance to development and health outcomes globally. The Guardian: Lack of toilets blights the lives of 2.5bn people, U.N. chief warns “The world’s lack of progress in building toilets and ending open defecation is having a ‘staggering’ effect on the health,…

Inter Press Service: India: A Race to the Bottom with Antibiotic Overuse “In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned: ‘Combat Drug Resistance — No Action Today, No Cure Tomorrow.’ The slogan was coined in honor of World Health Day, urging governments to ensure responsible use of antibiotics in order…

Agence France-Presse: Japan confirms first dengue fever infections in 70 years “Japanese health officials said Thursday that three young people have contracted dengue fever, the first such infections in the country in nearly 70 years…” (8/28).

News outlets discuss the findings of a report (.pdf) released by UNICEF that says more HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) cases are occurring among young people in Thailand. U.N. News Centre: HIV infections on rise among young gay men, other at-risk groups in Thailand — U.N. study “An estimated 70…